NParks didn't keep me waiting for long. Received a reply from them yesterday (just checked my mailbox this morning). Sadly, there aren't white clover or red clover patches in Singapore as these could only thrive in temperate regions.

Nevertheless, I was told that clover-like plants like the Creeping wood sorrel (Oxalis corniculata L.) can be found growing sporadically in open fields, lawns in parks, roadsides and housing estates. I wonder why I hadn't noticed them?

So I started taking closer looks into the green patches along the path home this morning and true enough I spotted the creeping wood sorrel!

But these are really small patches so the chances of finding a four-leaf creeping wood sorrel which only occurs in 10,000 three-leafers  is akin to - Zero. *Frowned* Hmm... maybe if I hit the open fields, there could be bigger patches of say at least a few thousands of them?

Still into the idea of finding a four-leaf clover (or a creeping wood sorrel), I chanced upon an interesting read on how to find a 4 leaf clover in 5 minutes! by fourleafclover.

She shared 9 steps from finding to framing the clover, and made it seem so easy! Hahaa... I'll bring my Sumikko gurashi diary book to press the four-leaf creeping wood sorrel I've found.

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Kirin had requested chicken chop for dinner for a while. But I hadn't managed to find a pack labelled "Chicken chop" at the supermart (I did saw packs of "Pork chop" though). So I had cooked chicken breasts, chicken thighs and today I bought a pack of "Chicken fillets" for dinner.

I got a sweet corn on the cob (Kirin's dictionary says a chicken chop dish should come with this). Ignorant Yang never knew there's silk to be removed, after peeling off the leaves wrapping the sweet corn. Another new discovery.

Read this from the Hickery Holler Farm where the corn on the cob was wrapped in foil and cooked perfectly after 6 hours of low and slow cooking. I didn't have heavy duty aluminium foil so I decided to lay the corn, unwrapped, over the chicken in the slow cooker.

Today, I gonna trust low and slow cooking - the secret to great braising, according to chef Dave Zino. So I braised the chicken fillets siting on potato wedges and blanched napa cabbage in mushroom sauce, with a sweet corn laid over the top, for 3 hours 15 mins.

The dish was fairly well done. The sweet corn was not dried out and the chicken fillets were more tender than my previous attempts. (You could follow the recipe for braised chicken breasts with mushroom-broccoli sauce but replace the broccoli with napa cabbage and lay the sweet corn over the chicken).

The four-leaf clover (or creeping wood sorrel) craze had only just begun. Tonight I found the rarest four-leafer in my bowl of yoghurt - a deep RED four-leafer! Something wonderful about strawberries and cherries is they are naturally "lovely" in shape. Yang just gotta trim the edges and they would look great for the yoghurt art. 

The cherry stem fitted in nicely as a clover stalk!

"Who says the number 4 is unlucky?" I heard the four-leaf clover protesting.

Kirin said he had a butter gipfel (Croissant) from Swissbake for breakfast... interesting.

I grabbed a cup of lite sour cream, almost half the fats content in a cup of premium sour cream and got another clear glass container for my roasted almond slices from yesterday. Just as every Boomers generation housewife has a "gong" of homemade deep-fried ikan bilis or shallots in her kitchen, perhaps I could have bottles of homemade roasted cashew nuts/almonds/hazelnuts? New trend for Generation Y housewives? Hahaa... so funny.

Today, I have a companion in my green kitchen - a big dragonfly, watching over me from behind the washing machine as I prepared and cooked dinner.

It doesn't look that big from this picture but it was! Its wings stretched out as long as the width of my two open palms. 

Please just watch over me from that corner. I'll scream if you fly any nearer.

I tasted the soup after adding all the sour cream in.. A tad too sour! "How many times must I remind you to taste your own food?!" I heard a judge scolding the MasterChef contestants.

Nevertheless, 食神 was with me. The sour cream-mushroom sauce turned out great, surprisingly. I realised whenever it tasted a little intense before it went into the slow cooker, it's gonna turn out right when done. I had one red potato peeled, the other with skin on. Kirin preferred the latter one with skin on. Me too.

And I'm quietly proud of my little innovation to add a sprinkle of roasted almond slices. The nutty, crispy flakes added a light crunch to the dish of saucy pork. Yes, they were still crispy despite being out for quite a while as I pieced up the Hello Kitty face yesterday.

Eh where are my pork loin slices? Opps... they have submerged in the sour cream-mushroom sauce.

Dragonfly hasn't gone away. Still accompanying me from that same old spot, while I washed the dishes (Kirin had been our dishwasher but he looked tired tonight so I got him to rest). Hmm not winter yet, but it seemed to be hibernating?

Read about The Difference Between Braising and Stewing from the kitchn. 

So I actually braised the pork loin just now, since they were 5 larger slices partially submerged in the sour cream-mushroom sauce, unlike the small pork cubes totally immersed in the cream of chicken soup for my Cabbage & pork stew. And this would be my 3rd braised dish. My previous two braised dishes were Apple-balsamic chicken & Chicken in broccoli-mushroom sauce. Cool!

My pork loin slices were a little tough and dry though. Guess I shouldn't have cooked on high for the 1st half hour. Just low and slow cooking to give tender, moist, flavourful meats. That's the secret to great braising, according to chef Dave Zino.

Here's sharing the recipe:

Braised Pork Loin in Sour Cream-Mushroom Sauce 

(Adapted from recipe by Taste of Home)

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

About 250g boneless pork loin, 5 slices 

1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1/8 tsp paprika (to season the pork)
3 tsp of cornstarch (to dredge the pork slices)
1+1/2 tsp canola oil (to brown the pork slices)
1/4 cup dry white wine (to deglaze pan)
2 small red potatoes, cut into wedges
55g buna-shimeiji mushrooms, sliced into halves
1/8 tsp kosher salt (to season the potato and mushroom layers)
1/4 cup of light sour cream 

Homemade cream of mushroom soup:

(Adapted fromrecipe by Simply Scratch)

2 +1/2 tsp butter, softened
1/4 of a yellow onion, finely chopped
1 mini portobello mushroom, gills removed & stemmed, finely chopped
2 + 1/2 tsp of flour
1/2 cup of homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup of low fat milk
Close to 1/8 tsp of kosher salt
Sprinkles of garlic powder p& ground black pepper

1. Heat the homemade chicken stock on low heat. Add the milk and seasonings and stir around. Continue to heat for say 2 mins then off heat.
2. Season the pork slices with kosher salt, black pepper, paprika. Lay a big plate with a thin layer of cornstarch (use a small metal spoon to tap and spread evenly), place the seasoned meats on 1 side, pat lightly, then flip over to the other side, patting lightly again.
3. Heat the canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat and brown the pork well (you'll know it's ready when it released easily from the wok). Transfer browned pork to plate.
4. Deglaze the wok with dry white wine. Pour the almost evaporated liquid into the prepared chicken and milk mixture.
5. Melt butter in the wok on moderate heat.
6. Add the onions and saute till just about soft, 2 to 3 mins.
7. Add the chopped Portobello mushrooms and saute for about 2 mins.
8. Sprinkle in flour a bit at a time, stirring around to mix well.
9. Ladle in the chicken and milk mixture.
10. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir the mixture until it thickens, about 3 to 5 mins. Taste and add salt, if necessary.
11. Layer the potato wedges and buna-shimeiji mushrooms, seasoning each layer with kosher salt.
12. Pour about half of the soup over the layers in the slow cooker.
13. Lay the browned pork in a single layer and pour the remaining soup over.
14. Cover and cook on low for about 3.5 hours.
15. Sprinkle with roasted almond slices!

Notes:
i. I swapped the chicken breast with pork loin and added potato wedges for my two potato fans - Kirin and 小雨.
ii. I cooked on high for the 1st half hour and I thought the pork turned a little tough and dry. So just 3.5 hours totally on low k! (As adviced by chef Daze Zino, see above).
iii. My sour cream-mushroom sauce seemed a little too much (the pork slices couldn't stay afloat for the shot *Frowned*). You may wish to use less than 1/2 cup of homemade chicken stock and adjust the remaining ingredients accordingly. Otherwise, you really could just use lesser from a can of cream of mushroom soup.

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Thursday's yoghurt art:

And I took another shot of it on a lovely dishcloth I bought this morning. Hahaa

As I lay in bed, I got more curious of the big dragonfly which I bet is still there, behind the washing machine now. Anything about a dragonfly totem? I chanced upon an interesting read: Dragonfly Spirit Animal & Totem by Elena Harris. A symbol of metamorphosis and transformation, adaptability, lightness in feelings and thoughts,,, I know, I know, Yang's thinking too much. Lol.

O by the way, I added lemon grass to soak and cook the grains today but they didn't lend much of a zesty flavor I was hoping for. Guess I need to do some research on how to add flavor to rice using lemon grass.

New culinary terms Yang learnt today...

1. dredging - coating moist foods with a dry ingredient before cooking.
Just a light coating for greater color and flavour. Aside from plain flour, you could use breadcrumbs or cornstarch as well.
2. Buerre manie - a dough consisting of equal parts of butter and flour, used to thicken soups and sauces.

Now I know I had already tried buerre manie when I prepared the sauce (Step 10 of the recipe) for my apple balsamic chicken the other day.

So I cut my 1st portobello mushroom, potatoes into wedges (i.e. halves into halves, into halves), and did both dredging and buerre manie.

The colors (brownish cap, cream-coloured flesh, blackie gills), smell and flavour of a Portobello mushroom simply exude a rustic 60s charm, to Yang. Am I crazy to say I really love the feeling of slicing it. It's like slicing some supple meat that's totally seamless and homogeneous (unlike the flesh of chicken or pork which have layers).  A little like slicing zucchini, but without the crunch. It's just unique. O do scrape out the blackie gills before you slice it.

I thought I did an ok job in dredging the chicken breast halves today - nice tinge of brown on lightly-floured surfaces, with some browned bits or "fond" in the wok to be deglazed. I used the broccoli blanching liquid for deglazing today.

But I had thickened and reduced the cream of mushroom soup a little and it doesn't seem enough to cook the 3 bottom layers of broccoli, potato wedges and buna-shimeiji mushrooms in the slow cooker. Oh no! How? Will they be undercooked?

I think I gotta remove the chicken later, add 2 tbsp of milk, stir the broccoli, potatoes and mushrooms around, then flip and return the chicken to the cooker for another 15 mins of cooking on high?

Just as I thought hard about saving the dish later, my worries were unfounded!

I peeped into the cooker and saw the veggies cooking well in the mushroom soup. Phew! Still cooked them on high for the last 15 mins to 4 hours of cooking and I got a dish of chicken breast in mushroom-broccoli sauce. Pretty unexpected that the broccoli broke down, but it was a blissful combination of green florets and brown mushroom bits.

Couldn't resist and I licked up the caramelised bits that got adhered to the insides of the slow cooker, after a satisfying dinner. Hahaa... you know enough Maillard reactions took place in there.

Slow cooker chicken in mushroom-broccoli sauce

(Adapted from recipe by Taste of Home)

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

2 Chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp kosher salt & close to 1/4 tsp black pepper (to season the chicken)
3 tsp plain, all purpose flour (to dredge the chicken)
1+1/2 tsp canola oil (to brown the chicken)
1/4 cup of broccoli blanching liquid (to deglaze pan)

Homemade cream of mushroom soup*

About 120g of broccoli florets, blanched
50g of buna-shimeiji mushrooms, sliced into halves
2 small red potatoes, cut into wedges
1/8 tsp kosher salt (to season the broccoli, potatoes & mushroom layers)

* Homemade cream of mushroom soup:

(Adapted from recipe by Simply Scratch)

2 +1/2 tsp butter, softened
1/4 of a yellow onion, finely chopped
1 mini portobello mushroom, gills removed & stemmed, finely chopped
2 + 1/2 tsp of flour
1/2 cup of homemade chicken stock
1/4 cup of low fat milk
Close to 1/8 tsp of kosher salt
Sprinkles of garlic powder & ground black pepper

1. Heat the homemade chicken stock on low heat. Add the milk and seasonings and stir around. Continue to heat for say 2 mins then off heat.
2. Season the chicken with kosher salt and black pepper. Lay a big plate with a thin layer of plain flour (use a small metal spoon to tap and spread evenly), place the seasoned meats on 1 side, pat lightly, then flip over to the other side, patting lightly again.
3. Heat the canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat and brown the chicken well (you'll know it's ready when it released easily from the wok). Transfer browned chicken to plate.
4. Deglaze the wok with the blanching liquid for broccoli. Pour the almost evaporated liquid into the prepared chicken and milk mixture.
5. Melt butter in the wok on moderate heat.
6. Add the onions and saute till just about soft, 2 to 3 mins.
7. Add the chopped Portobello mushrooms and saute for about 2 mins.
8. Sprinkle in flour a bit at a time, stirring around to mix well.
9. Ladle in the chicken and milk mixture.
10. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir the mixture until it thickens, about 3 to 5 mins. Taste and add salt, if necessary.
11. Layer the potato wedges, buna-shimeiji mushrooms, then blanched broccoli, seasoning each layer with kosher salt.
12. Pour about half of the soup over the layers in the slow cooker.
13. Lay the browned chicken in a single layer and pour the remaining soup over chicken.
14. Cover and cook on low for about 3.5  to 4 hours.

Notes:
i. I skipped the carrots, green chillies in the recipe from Taste of Home and added broccoli. Also replaced the cream of onion soup with cream of mushroom soup.
ii. I had laid the blanched broccoli, potato wedges, then the mushrooms (as can be seen from the picture in slideshow below). However, I thought it might be safer to lay the potato wedges, mushrooms at the bottom, since the broccoli had already been cooked.
iii. I removed the chicken, stir around the potatoes, mushrooms and broccoli, flipped and returned the chicken, then cooked on high for the last 15 mins. But I guess 4 hours of low and moist cooking is good to give tender chicken.

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K this is a messy 1st attempt at a bowl of YY for "Yang's Yoghurt". Of strawberries, seedless grapes, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, half a square of 78% Frey extra dark bittersweet chocolate...

... and a sheep stolen from 小雨's Leibniz zoo biscuits bought by papa Kirin.

And Kirin bought me Twelve cupcakes!!

After I'm done with YY, I sunk my teeth into one with brown cream cheese frosting. It was chocolate banana, a flavour that's usually available but I never thought of getting for myself. I would have bought it for Kirin though, he likes bananas and chocolate.

Eh Ok now I know why it's here... Sorry Kirin! I took yours... Hahaaa

Dinner tonight:

Cooking the cream of chicken soup with Pura high calcium, low fat milk today. For something lighter and healthier.

Read about how to sear meat properly from the kitchn. I thought I didn't sear my chicken well for the last 2 rounds of slow cooking - Southwestern chicken soup and apple balsamic chicken. I didn't see caramelised browned meats nor did they have that sublime flavour. I recalled that accidental success with my 2nd cabbage & pork stew though.

So today I'm gonna try achieving a proper searing using canola oil.  And I should only season the meat with salt and pepper, just before browning so that moisture is not drawn out from the meat by the salt.

By the time my stew started cooking in the slow cooker, it was already 4.45pm!! I had made reference to my earlier experience with apple balsamic chicken, and thought I need not start preparation as early. Well, I forgot I only had 2 chicken thighs and 2 chicken breasts to sear, and no veggies to be layered then.

So my plan to cook one-pot with the spaghetti in as well, didn't materialize with an underestimated preparation time. I tried to think of it as a chance to cook pasta al dente for Kirin instead (al dente is an Italian word which means "to the tooth" literally, i.e. cooked to the desired texture of "firm to bite"). Kirin doesn't like his food too soft and mushy, unlike Yang.

And so it was al dente, after cooking in salted boiling water for 8 mins, according to package instructions. With the low fat milk, I achieved a lighter cream of chicken soup just as yummy and definitely healthier, to go along with the spaghetti.

O how about my searing skills today? I saw nicely-browned chicken and caramelised bits or "fond" in the wok to be deglazed,  which means an improved searing job today! Hurray! And I guess during the 1st half hour of cooking on high, the chicken browned the stew broth as well, giving it a tinge of brownness and a deeper flavor. 

Here's my self-devised recipe. Have a go at this! (*w*)/

Mushroom & Chicken Stew with Spaghetti

Makes 2 to 3 servings

About 200g of chicken breast, cut into strips
1/4 tsp kosher salt & close to 1/4 tsp ground black pepper (to season the chicken)
2 tsp of canola oil (split into 1+1/2 tsp & 1/2 tsp to brown chicken in 2 batches)
55g of buna-shimeiji mushrooms, trimmed & separated
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small red potato, diced
1 small red onion, cut into strips
Between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp kosher salt (to season the mushroom & veggie layers)
Homemade cream of chicken soup*

160g of spaghetti (cooked al dente according to package directions)

* Homemade cream of chicken soup
(Adapted from recipe by pinch of yum)

1 cup of homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup of low fat milk (put 2 tbsp into saucepan with chicken stock, then remaining for whisking with flour mixture)
2tbsp + 2 tsp of plain flour
1/8 tsp of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of onion powder
1/8 tsp of kosher salt

1. Prepare the cream of chicken soup:
i. Combine the chicken stock and 2 tbsp of low fat milk in the saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
ii. Meanwhile, in a metal bowl, whisk the flour and seasonings into the remaining milk until well combined.
iii. Pour the flour and milk mixture into the saucepan with the broth mixture over low heat and whisk continuously as the mixture simmers until it becomes smooth and thick, about 8 minutes.
iv. Taste the mixture as it simmers and add salt if needed. Off the heat.

2. Heat canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the seasoned chicken strips well in 2 or 3 batches (lightly pat them with the back of spatula to get any water out). Transfer the browned chicken to plate. Off heat. [See Note (ii) below]
3. Layer half the onion strips, diced red pepper, diced green pepper, diced potatoes and mushrooms, seasoning each layer with some kosher salt. 
4. Lay the browned chicken over the mushroom and veggie layers.
5. Layer the other half of mushrooms, diced potatoes, diced green pepper, diced red pepper and onion strips, seasoning each layer with the remaining kosher salt.
6. On heat again and pour in the dry white wine to deglaze wok. Scrape up the browned bits in the wok and stir around till the wine has almost evaporated.
7. Ladle in the cream of chicken soup and stir around to combine. Taste the soup and add more seasoning if desired.
8. Ladle the soup into the slow cooker of mushroom, veggies and chicken.
9. Cover and cook on high for half an hour, do a quick stir, then cook on low for about 2.5 hours.
10. Remove lid, turn on high for another half hour to cook off some liquid for a thicker stew.
11. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti al dente in salted boiling water, according to package directions. 
12. Add the cooked spaghetti to the stew in the slow cooker and stir around to combine. Serve!
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Notes:
i. There's no need to bring the cold milk to room temperature. It's easier for whisking as the flour doesn't coagulate as much in cold milk. 
ii. For Step 2, you may want to lift your wok or skillet off the hot stove to prevent the browned bits from turning black while you layer the mushrooms, veggies and chicken.
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小雨 surprised us by singing the whole of "Twinkle, twinkle little star... ", followed by the whole of "一闪一闪亮晶晶...＂on the car ride home in 阿福.

A pity she doesn't really get to see starry night skies on this tiny red dot.

Yang woke up with a hiccup.

小雨 dropped her water bottle when we walked to 阿福 ; Kirin dropped it again when we got out of 阿福.

Subconsciously, I took out my ez link card before reaching the door to our house ~_~; not the first time.

Dinner for tonight:

Skinned the chicken thighs and removed as much fats as I could. Then I seared the chicken thighs and breast, about 3 mins on each side. (As I looked back at this picture, I thought I could have browned them a little more. Lol.)

Tasted my sauce mixture for the chicken. A little too sour. Since I still have some time to spare, I thought I could re-prepare a sauce mixture with lesser balsamic vinegar and lemon juice, before I realised I've already mixed my chicken stock in. Not enough time to dethaw another 1/4 cup of frozen chicken stock.

Well, so there's no turning back. I faced the problem squarely and added another tbsp of apple juice (hoping to sweeten it a little), followed by a few sprinkles of sugar coz it was still rather sour. The end mixture was... sweeter. Phew and I prayed for a tasty apple balsamic chicken to be savoured with a glass of apple juice for dinner - not wine pairing but juice pairing.

Lesson learnt: Taste the mixture first before mixing my chicken stock in. So if it doesn't taste right, i could re-do it all over again. You know it's rather tedious and stressful trying to save something that has gone wrong. Things just get more complex when you add more layers to it.

小雨 kneaded the tiniest hamburger out of plasticine in Gourmet class today. Cute.

I strained the cooking liquid through a fine mesh to remove the fats and the thyme herbs got strained away too. Opps I should have skimmed it instead, as suggested by the recipe. Anyway, there was little fats. Guess it's coz I've got a mix of chicken thighs and breasts.

The sauce turned out good, with the right level of sweetness to complement the tart taste from the lemon juice, apple juice and balsamic vinegar.  O to novice cooks like Yang, please don't sprinkle additional flour in directly if you have already added the cooking liquid (see Step 10 below). You gotta dissolve the flour in a liquid first, if you would like to further thicken the sauce. Silly Yang did the former and it took a few showers of cold sweat down my back and what seemed like ages to dissolve the flour.

Finally, here's sharing the recipe for the slow cooker apple balsamic chicken:

Slow Cooker Apple Balsamic Chicken
(Adapted from recipe by Taste of Home)

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

2 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed (about 250g)
1 chicken breast, boneless, cut into halves (about 150g)
1/4 tsp kosher salt and close to 1/4 tsp ground black pepper (to season the chicken)
1 + 1/2 tsp olive or canola oil (to brown the chicken) 
1/4 cup dry white wine (to deglaze pan after browning chicken)

Sauce mixture:
1/4 cup homemade chicken stock
1/8 cup apple juice
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp unsalted butter     }
1 tbsp all-purpose flour  } for buerre manie


1. Combine the apple juice, vinegar, lemon juice, dried thyme in a bowl and mix well.
2. Heat the dethawed homemade chicken stock, bring to a low simmer, then pour in the sauce mixture, stirring continuously. Add the paprika and garlic powder and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if necessary. Off heat.
3. Season the chicken well with salt and black pepper.
4. Heat the olive or canola oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat for a min. Brown the chicken well, about 2 to 3 mins on each side (you'll know it's done when it releases easily from the pan). Transfer the browned chicken to line the slow cooker in a single layer.
5. Add dry white wine to deglaze pan. When the white wine has almost evaporated, ladle in the sauce mixture and stir well.
6. Ladle the prepared sauce mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker.
7. Cover and cook on low for 3 to 3.5 hours.
8. Remove chicken and keep warm.
9. Pour the cooking liquid into a bowl and skim off the fats.
10. Melt butter in a wok or skillet. Sprinkle in flour bit by bit and stir until smooth. Gradually add the skimmed cooking liquid. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Pour over chicken. Serve!!

Notes:
i. I added about another tbsp of apple juice and sprinkles of sugar to sweeten the sauce a little (in step 2). Guess I may not need to adjust the seasonings if I had skipped the sour lemon juice totally.
ii. For 小雨, we only serve shredded chicken from the inner layers and save the exterior layers coated with sauce for ourselves, for a milder flavor.

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Had my 2nd try at a stir-fry dish of broccoli. This time I blanched the broccoli florets, added slices of shiitake mushrooms after soaking it overnight, used its soaking liquid in the sauce for a umami flavor and it improved tremendously (from my 1st stir-fry with broccoli).

As a little girl, I would describe broccoli as "小小棵的树＂, whenever I requested my mom to cook it for dinner (she doesn't understand English). I would specify it's "青色的，不是白色的", (I was afraid to see a dish of cauliflowers which I didn't like as much). Lol. Now, I learnt it's known as 西兰花 in Chinese.

Broccoli & shiitake mushroom stir-fry

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

About 125g of broccoli florets, blanched
2 dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed and soaked overnight in 3 tbsp cold water
3g ginger, minced
1 clove of garlic
Less than 1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp canola oil

Broth mixture:
2 tbsp of mushroom soaking liquid
1+1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine

1. Heat a wok or skillet with canola oil over medium-high heat for a min. Swirl wok to coat.
2. Stir-fry the minced ginger until fragrant for about 30 secs, then add the garlic with salt and stir-fry for another 30 secs.
3. Add the shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for a min, then the blanched broccoli and stir-fry for another min.
4. Add the broth mixture, reduce heat and stir around for another 2 mins. Off heat and serve!

Notes:
i. Read about how to reconstitute dried shiitake mushrooms from Essence of Japan. 
ii. 小雨 loves shiitake mushrooms. Your toddler might love it too!

Dinner for tomorrow:

#1 - Slow cooker apple balsamic chicken
#2 - Broccoli & shiitake mushroom stir-fry

When you are a novice yet perfectionist in cooking, you plan for tomorrow's dinner today. The
recipe for the apple balsamic chicken calls for chicken thigh. Skinless but still, fattier and less healthy compared to chicken breast.

Getting sick at the freezy Poultry section in the Supermart, till I finally decided to do 1/2 bone-in chicken thigh, 1/2 boneless chicken breast. I'll save the most flavourful cut - the chicken thigh for Kirin, while 小雨 and I take the chicken breast.

Unlike the past slow cooker recipes I have tried, this recipe didn't call for browning of the chicken. Read from the kitchn that searing meat before cooking is well-worth the extra effort.
Contrary to popular belief, browning or searing doesn't really locks in the moisture, giving juicier meats. However, searing meats results in a Maillard reaction which adds complex layers of nutty caramel and coffee-like bitterness, giving meats a sublime taste. Hmm I could recall that sublime taste in my pork cubes for my Cabbage & pork stew, but was missing in the chicken for my recent rainbow soup - Slow cooker Southwestern chicken soup. Guess I hadn't done a good enough searing job for the latter. 

Alright, Yang's convinced. I will sear my chicken tomorrow.

小雨 waved a baby goodbye to me today and I returned with a medium-sized wave (reminds me of the Hi-5 episode where Lauren teaches about big, medium-sized, baby hello & goodbye waves. Lol). 

O no!! I forgot to bring out my chicken stock from the freezer to dethaw. Ok don't get panicky. As long as I could break the ice a little, I should be able to get it into the pan for heating. So no more chillax breakfast outside today, and I headed home straight.

1st browning experience with chicken, and 1st time using a touch of cumin powder to flavour the chicken soup.

(After a few more browning experiences, I looked back at this picture and knew I didn't quite brown them at all. Aside from a slight tinge of brown in a few chicken strips, the rest were still largely... WHITE. Lol.)

As I layered the veggies the same way I did for my Cabbage & pork stew, I realised there's red (red pepper), orange (tomato), yellow (potato), green (green pepper), purple (red onions). Short of blue, I'll get a rainbow soup! How colourful! Perfect for 小雨 who loves the bold colours at Smiggle.

Ok I got the soup in by 2pm as planned. I'm gonna cook it for 6 hours, just in time for dinner around 8pm. Washing up now, with my glasses at the tip of my nose. I know how I look now, not going to the mirror. And I'm quietly pleased and excited about dinner tonight.

Gave the soup a quick stir after 3 hours before I head off to fetch 小雨. I tasted a little... refreshing from the touch of cumin powder.

We were back half an hour late, so slow cooking was 6.5 hours instead. I got a beautiful soup of nice aroma but the chicken was a little dried out. It was so succulent and juicy when I tasted a browned cube just nw.

Saw the 3 blueberries? They are to make up for the missing blue color for a rainbow-themed dinner. Heehee

Overall, Yang's pleased with this rainbow soup. Will try maybe 5.5 to 6 hours next time and the chicken should taste better! Here's sharing my tweaks for the recipe:

Slow Cooker Southwestern Chicken Soup

(Adapted from recipe by Taste of Home)

Makes 2+1 toddler servings

About 200g of chicken breast, sliced into thin strips
Close to 1/4 tsp of kosher salt & 1/8 tsp ground white pepper (to season the chicken)
1+1/2 tsp olive oil (to brown the chicken)

1 small red potato, peeled and diced (to replace corn)
1 tomato (about 136g), undrained and diced (instead of 1/2 a can of diced tomatoes)
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small sweet red pepper, diced
Between 1/8 & 1/4 tsp kosher salt (to season the veggie layers)
1/4 cup dry white wine (to deglaze pan after browning)
1.5 cups of homemade chicken stock

Seasonings for chicken soup:
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp kosher salt or to taste

1. Bring the chicken stock to a low boil. Lower heat to a gentle simmer and season with cumin and garlic powder. Add kosher salt to taste. Off heat.
2. Heat olive oil in the wok or skillet over medium-high heat for a min. Brown the chicken strips in two batches, flipping once when they have completely seared on one side (you'll know it's ready as it releases easily from the pan when you gently shake it). Off heat and transfer the seared chicken to a plate.
3. In the slow cooker, layer half of the diced onion, potatoes, tomatoes, red pepper and green pepper, seasoning each layer with some kosher salt.
4. Lay the browned chicken strips over, then layer the other half of diced red pepper, green pepper, tomatoes, potatoes and onions.
5. On heat again and pour in the dry white wine to deglaze pan. Scrape up the browned bits in the wok and stir around till the wine has almost evaporated.
6. Ladle in the chicken stock and stir around to combine. Taste the soup and add more seasoning if desired.
7. Ladle the stock into the slow cooker of veggies and chicken. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours. (If possible, do a quick stir after 3 hours.)
8. Serve with steamed white rice or crusty bread!

Notes:
i. I skipped the green chillies and used a reduced amount of cumin powder, for a milder 小雨-friendly soup. Do adjust according to your own preference.
ii. I replaced the corn with red potato as 小雨 doesn't like the former. A yellow substitute, for a rainbow soup.
iii. Like my cabbage & pork stew, I halved the recipe but didn't really halve the cooking time. Nevertheless, I guess 4 to 5 hours of slow cooking might be sufficient.
iv. I served the savoury soup with steamed white rice. You could have it with some crusty bread too like the wholemeal walnut raisin from BreadTalk, one of Yang's favourite things.

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Having a slow cooker soup ready for dinner means no stress for Yang to cook fast and good with 3 tummies rumbling and one tummy rubbing against your legs, vying for your attention. It means having dinner together (I usually get them to dig in first once the 1st stir-fry is ready, while I continue with the 2nd dish). It also means less plates for Kirin to wash as part of the washing had been done earlier by Yang, after laying the ingredients in the slow cooker (Kirin had volunteered to do the washing up after a home-cooked dinner).

Finally, it means more family time nua-ing on our queen-sized bed, singing songs together, and requesting hugs, kisses and sayangs from 小雨 before we all turn in for the night.

小雨 said "So-rry" clearly for the first time... to papa Kirin. 

Splitted my chilled chicken stock or aspic by slicing into cubes for freezing. And I figured that 1/4 cup of aspic cubes is about 100g.

小雨 had an unusually long nap today. While she had started to nap two long hours in preschool, she rarely napped as long back at home. And after I picked her up for some after-nap cuddling on the sofa, she continued another half an hour of zz on me. Seriously so tired?!

We had korean dinner at Manna Story, JCube. 小雨 got the premier seat where she could enjoy her dinner, while watching people ice-skating a floor below. 

Re-stocked two of my favourite things from Cold Storage - 78% Frey extra dark bittersweet chocolate and Leibniz crunchy wholemeal biscuits.